Day 2 - Crystal River to Clearwater

It's 5:30am when the alarm goes off. It's still pitch black outside by the time we reach Bird's Underwater dive shop, where we'll be going on a manatee snorkeling tour.

Here's me in my wetsuit.

After watching an instructional video on how to (legally) interact with the manatees we head out on Kings Bay. Our captain Rhonda takes us straight to the Three Sister's Springs, one of the prime manatee viewing areas. The sun's just barely risen by the time we hit the water and dang is it cold! Youd' think it'd be nice and toasty with the wetsuit ...

The water gets murkier and murkier as we approach the entrance to the springs and visibility is no more than an arm's length. Out of nowhere one darts out in front of me and I'm so startled I almost float face first into it. Yikes, they are so big!

Make sure to check out the manatee pictures in the post before this one. Playing with them was such an amazing experience ... they are so playful and loveable.
After a quick breakfast at a local joint called the Village Cafe we drive to nearby Homosassa Springs. I wasn't sure if it would be worth our time, since the manatees are one of their big attractions and we'd just spent hours playing with them, but it was great. This was the first time I got to use my new zoom lens so I went a little bit overboard taking pictures of the animals.

All the animals in the park are native to Florida, except for Lu the hippopotamus. The park used to house all kinds of exotic animals, but after the state bought it they were all relocated. Finding a new home for Lu turned out to be impossible so Lu was made an honorary Floridian so he could stay at the park.

Lu's next pond neighbor, one of the alligators:

The red fox takes a nap:
















There are also a few aviaries. Here's one of the owls:

America's national bird ... the bald eagle:

My new camera let's me take pictures from behind wire fences. So cool! Here's one of the cougars:

Flamingos!


It took us a while to find the bobcats, but they were snuggled up in the log.

There's also a small reptile building. These little guys were so cute!

Okay, so I do have one manatee picture for you. Here's a couple of them resting in the spring right outside the park.


The park also has an underwater viewing area that's built right over top of the largest spring in the park. The fish seem to be drawn to it ... maybe for warmth?

We time it just right so that we're the first people on the boat on the way back. I pick the bench closest to the front of the boat so I can take some pictures on the way back to the visitors center. An adorable little raccoon was sitting right at the water's edge, but we passed it before I had a chance to take a picture :-(

Here's a nice one of the scenery.
















Our animal encounters did not stop there. We were driving to our next destination when I glimped something moving near the shoulder of the road. "Stop the car!!" Sandy's getting very good at screeching to a halt on the shoulder of the road haha.

My first armadillo! Awww.


Tarpon Springs is a Greek community famous for it's sponge diving history. My guidebook recommend the free Spongeorama (although it did call it "campy"), but there really wasn't much worth seeing. It's really a souvenir shop that shows an old movie about the history of sponge diving.

We decide to go for a short walk along the docks. Most of the boats moored here are sponge fishing boats. See the sponges?

There doesn't appear to be much else to do in the area so we ask one of the locals to direct us to a nearby beach where we can watch the sun set. Less than 10 minutes later we make it to Sunset Beach Park. It's really just a sliver of land jutting into the bay, but what a beautiful place to watch the sky change colors!

One more for good measure:



Random abandoned old church on the way back to town














We head back to Tarpon Springs for dinner where we have suberb authentic Greek cuisine at Mykonos. I'm no fan of lamb, but that was the best gyros either of us has ever had and the chicken lemon soup with orzo was a very pleasant surprise.

Before checking into the hotel we make one last stop at the local greyhound race track, Derby Lane. Admission is free and after watching three races we leave with $6.40 in earnings (Sandy's, not mine). It was fun to watch them chase the "bunny" around the track, but I think I'll stick with ponies!

Total miles for today: 100

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Late breakfast: Village Cafe
Dinner: Mykonos
Hotel: Holiday Inn Select St. Petersburg Airport